Archive for January, 2010

Excellent story taken from 4 Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss.
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An American businessman was standing at the pier of a small coastal Mexican village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. Inside the small boat were several large yellowfin tuna. The American complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish.

“How long did it take you to catch them?” The American asked.

“Only a little while.” The Mexican replied.

“Why don’t you stay out longer and catch more fish?” The American then asked.

“I have enough to support my family’s immediate needs.” The Mexican said.

“But,” The American then asked, “What do you do with the rest of your time?”

The Mexican fisherman said, “I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take a siesta with my wife, Maria, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine and play guitar with my amigos, I have a full and busy life, senor.”

The American scoffed, “I am a Harvard MBA and could help you. You should spend more time fishing and with the proceeds you buy a bigger boat, and with the proceeds from the bigger boat you could buy several boats, eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats.”

“Instead of selling your catch to a middleman you would sell directly to the consumers, eventually opening your own can factory. You would control the product, processing and distribution. You would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then LA and eventually NYC where you will run your expanding enterprise.”

The Mexican fisherman asked, “But senor, how long will this all take?”

To which the American replied, “15-20 years.”

“But what then, senor?”

The American laughed and said, “That’s the best part. When the time is right you would announce an IPO (Initial Public Offering) and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich, you would make millions.”

“Millions, senor? Then what?”

The American said slowly, “Then you would retire. Move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take a siesta with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos…”
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Stop and think for a second. Which path are you taking?

Our goal in life should be to let others know how smart we really are, right? We spend our time taking tests, applying for awards, and interviewing all in an attempt to justify our skill set. But how do we define “smart”? It appears we have arrived at this definition: A core competency in a narrow area. This area consists of individuals far more knowledgeable than us and our aim becomes to seek and interact with these individuals. The focus on this specific area creates a habit of socializing with like-minded individuals while ignoring others with diverse skill sets.

Here is the Success Secret: Every single person is smarter than you in at least one regard (if you’re like me than probably more).

The intense focus on our one area of interest needs to be toned down. To escape this end, I propose a 5 day challenge. Each day in the challenge spend 10-15 minutes with a person you have always overlooked. Dig out that area where they surpass you and just listen. At the end of those 5 days you will find yourself a more complete individual in areas that never even occurred to you. That’s intelligence!

How did this go for you? What were those 5 encounters like?

I’ve been in college almost four years now and I can count the number of great Powerpoint presentations I’ve seen on one hand. It seems to me that this communication medium has become the established method without true justification. The reason is simple enough – it’s just too easy to make a mediocre one. It seems presenters have stopped using Powerpoint for the effect but have begun to use it as a way to remind them of their upcoming lines. Here are some of my steadfast rules:

1. Never use a theme from Powerpoint. The use of one shows a complete lack of effort. Instead, learn how to use a Master slide and create your own simple design. Never let your theme distract from the presentation.
2. Minimize your use of text on a slide. Seth Godin’s rule is no more than 6 words a slide. It will keep your focus on the fact that the presentation is meant to reinforce your point, not make it.
3. Do not put too many images on a slide. The viewer will spend more time looking at all the different pictures than listening to you.
4. On the image note, try not to copy and paste random pictures from Google. Most of the time they look unprofessional and you are better off going with stock photos.
5. Finally, never use transitions or animations. Those were fun in 8th grade so leave them there.

For more tips on creating a powerpoint presentation check out the Career Resources section for a guide by Seth Godin, the New York Times bestselling author.